First time novelist Catherine Deveny shares her best tips for writing.
1. Don’t let the thought that what you write, think you are going to write or are writing is crap stop you from writing. If we all did that no one would write anything. Or another way of putting it: crap isn’t crap, it’s just another name for fertiliser. As Dr. Seuss says, ‘Everything stinks until it’s finished.’
2. Set yourself low expectations like writing for 30 minutes a day. Most people immediately feel they have failed because they set themselves ridiculously high and unachievable goals. My book The Happiness Show was written in 30-minute increments. And apropos lowering expectations, don’t get all lofty, just write the book you want to read. A good story is a good story. Don’t worry if you think someone has ‘done it before’. EVERYTHING has been done before.
3. Do the writing before you fold the washing. Do the writing before the ironing. Do the writing before getting dressed, having a shower or eating breakfast. Do the writing first. Because there is always something you can be doing instead of writing. Do the ironing, washing, eating breakfast, etc, as a reward for completing the writing (see my column on writing here).
4. Perfect is the enemy of good. Be a completionist not a perfectionist. It’s normal to have 17 negative thoughts for every positive thought. ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned.’ Leonardo da Vinci
5. As you’re writing, you can only see as far ahead as the headlights and that’s how it should be. Don’t panic, just keep driving. And know you’ll only be able to see the whole journey when you’re finished. ‘It's like driving a car at night. You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ E.L. Doctorow
Catherine Deveny's debut novel The Happiness Show is available now as a print and ebook.
Contributors for The Best Australian Stories, Essays and Poems 2012 have been announced.
We're delighted to announce the contributors for The Best Australian Stories 2012, edited by Sonya Hartnett, The Best Australian Essays 2012, edited by Ramona Koval and The Best Australian Poems 2012 edited by John Tranter.
Contributors include Alex Miller, James Bradley, Romy Ash, Chris Womersley, J.M. Coetzee, Helen Garner, Gillian Mears, Clive James, Nicolas Rothwell, Robert Adamson, Les Murray, Jennifer Maiden and many more.
To see lists of all the contributors visit bestaustralianwriting.com.au
What is Greenwash about?
The book explores whether the climate-friendly revolution being advertised by the world’s biggest brands is real, and exposes the various ways that brands with rising carbon footprints greenwash the truth. I compared climate-friendly marketing from all over the world with the carbon footprints of the products sold by the brands involved.
What made you decide to write Greenwash?
I usually do my best to avoid advertising, so to deliberately immerse myself in advertising for years was a nauseating prospect. However, as much advertising as I had managed to miss, it was impossible not to notice the explosion in green marketing. Many people are disillusioned about political inaction and some probably see the greening of big business as the only hope; and there’s a widespread assumption that the clean-energy revolution is inevitable, if not already here. I wanted to see whether these hopes were well founded or misplaced – whether the corporate actions behind the revolution being advertised add up to a shrinking carbon footprint, or are likely to any time soon. After all, so much hinges on the answer, and yet, no one seems to ask the question.
What is Crimwife about?
Crimwife is essentially about the experiences of the partners of inmates and criminals. It is a mix of individuals’ stories, including my own, of falling in love with someone on the wrong side of the law. It also answers some of the old questions about these relationships: how they start, what life’s like when you’re in one, and of course, why do women stay with men like these?
Why did you decide to write Crimwife?
Visiting my partner in jail was a very different perspective from having worked in a prison as I had done. I suddenly became aware of other people who were impacted by incarceration and the justice system: the inmates’ families. Their partners sacrificed and devoted so much to sustain their men’s survival on the inside, yet they seemed almost invisible, ignored by the usual stories of jail life. Their side of the story needed to be told.
What are some of the themes in The Words That Made Australia?
The idea of the workers’ paradise has been a constant in our history. So have some tormenting questions: Are we a real country? Who are the true Australians? Is immigration a threat or an opportunity?
Then there are things that force their way into view against powerful resistance, such as what WEH Stanner called “the great Australian silence” about indigenous dispossession. Or the overwhelming blokiness that Miriam Dixson notes. It took until the ’60s and ’70s for definitive pieces to be written pointing these things out.
Why this collection?
When we started work, we found that there were already books of snippets of Australiana, handsome collections of documents and speeches, and home-grown belle-lettres. But there was no book that gathered together the moments when someone had arrived at a new insight (for example, the cultural cringe), or given a state-of-the-nation overview that crystallised things (for example, the lucky country or the end of certainty). Once we realised that was what we wanted, everything fell into place – the book had its raison d’être.
